Second Date Cookies

IMG_1058Back when I was a burgeoning adolescent, my mom used to advise me to make cookies for the boy I liked. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, after all.

She’d encourage me to do this every few months, and each time I’d reply vehemently, and probably with an annoying eye roll, “No, mom. I can’t do that. No one does that.”

Fast-forward a few years to when I went on a first date with my husband. I could tell things were different with him. We connected. We chatted about our mutual love for math, science, Harry Potter and Zelda Ocarina of Time.

I really liked him.

So when it came time for our second date, guess what I did? That’s right, I brought him homemade cookies. We munched on them in the movie theater and they must’ve tasted okay because a little over two years later, we were married.

It just goes to show: Mom is always right… Eventually.

I absolutely love recipes that have stories intertwined with them. Do you have any recipes with a story?

Here’s my recipe for what are now called Second Date Cookies, loosely based on the Quaker Oat’s Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (but don’t worry, there are no raisins because raisins are 1. gross and 2. pretty much the worst form a grape can take):

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarin
  • 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 and 1/2 cup flower (note, at altitude you’ll want to add a little extra)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • dash of nutmeg
  • 3 cups Quaker Oats (I prefer old fashioned)
  • 3/4 cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet morsels)
  • 3/4 cup butterscotch chips

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes (usually a few minutes longer if you’re at altitude) until the tops are golden brown. Share with a loved one and enjoy!

What I’m reading: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

What I’m listening to: Taylor Swift — Shake It Off